Quick Links

Use bevel square to draw Arrange pins and tails so pattern is visually attractive. 80° angles for pins. piece end-for-end and make the same cut on the other side of the centerline. Repeat the cuts, lowering the blade as needed, until you hollow the side. Clean up with a scrub plane. After hollowing the insides, turn the boards over, butt each against a bench stop and use your scrub plane to remove most of the outside waste. When you get near the line, switch from the scrub plane to a jack plane, and plane right down to the mark. With a fine-tooth backsaw, crosscut all three boards about Ys in. longer than the chest's finished dimension. Use a marking gauge shouldered on the end grain to draw the cut-off lines. I mark out the through dovetails on the ends in three steps. pegs reinforce pins. +1��-------11� the dovetails. To locate the centerpoints, square up the ends and mark a centerpoint on one face. Place a try square on the edge of the stock and draw a line to the centerpoint, then use the square to carry the line across the edge and down the other face. Repeat the process with the square on the adjacent edge. The two lines intersect at the centerpoint. Set your compass for the chest's SY.-in. outer radius and scribe circles on both sides of each end. Before resetting the compass, draw the same radius on a piece of cardboard and cut a 1200 wedge-shaped pattern. Repeat the whole procedure, including making the pattern, for the SY.-in. inner radius. Next, hold the SY.-in. pattern on the end grain of a side board, with the top of the curve about Yt6 in. below the edge. Mark the pattern where it intersects the bottom edge, and trace it onto the end grain. Turn the board end-for-end and repeat the tracing, using the guide marks on the pattern to align it so both curves are in the same plane. Do the same thing with the SY.-in. radius, aligning the pattern � in. inside, and concentric to, the outside radius. Trace the patterns on the other side piece and the top. Saw the round ends with a bowsaw or bandsaw. I first scooped out the inside radius with a scrub plane, which has a round-nose plane iron that cuts through wood like a gouge. Cabinetmakers traditionally pushed the plane across the grain when they wanted to reduce a board's thickness, but the tool works fine with the grain. The depth of cut depends on how hard you like to push the plane and how easily your plane clogs. Experiment with different settings. I found that mine worked best when I set the iron for a Yts-in. cut. When you near the scribed curve, retract the iron until it cuts a curve that matches the inner radius. You will be taking thinner shavings, but the plane sole will guide the iron to cut a curve matching the one scribed on the end grain. To remove the waste with a tablesaw, set the blade to cut to within Ys-in. of the curve in the center of the board. After cutting the centerline, move the fence about a saw kerf closer to the blade and make another cut. Without changing the fence, flip the First, pencil the tails on the outer face, but don't cut them. Instead, hold the hollowed-out pieces between the two radii scribed on the end and use your penciled-in tails to mark the pins on the sides and lid. After cutting the pins, go back to the end, hold the side in the same place as before and re-mark the tails to fit the cut pins. I mark out the joint from each end's central axis, using a bevel square set for an 800 angle, which seems to make a strong joint. The major factor in deciding the number of pins and tails is appearance, as long as the pins and tails are large enough to be strong. I recommend you start with the arrangement shown in the plan, then modify the pins until you like the look. The dovetails on the lid and sides are sawn and chopped in the conventional manner ers, pp. 14-18), except you'll need a curved chopping block that fits under the hollowed sides to support the wood while you're chopping the pins. When chiseling the ends, you can maintain the shoulder curve of the smaller radius at the shoulder by making numerous narrow paring cuts with a Yt6-in. or Ys-in. chisel . After cutting the joints, draw a line defining the semi-circular (FWW lid end, as shown, and carefully separate the lid section from the rest of the end with a thin-blade saw. I use a beveled panel for the bottom. It's easy to fit the ends of the panel into the hollowed sides, and you still have a good, flat surface to keep the chest from rolling on the floor. I grooved the sides with a plow plane, and the ends with a scratch stock. I clamped each hollowed side to my bench, then balanced the plane and cut the groove by eye. I didn't groove the sides before hollowing them because it would have made the carving more difficult to align. Now put the chest parts together halfway to make sure every- thing fits-you don't want to loosen the joints with trial fittings. If everything fits, put one end on your bench, tap in the pins of the sides, slide in the bottom and tap down the second end. Assemble the top the same way. Next, drill ;;s-in. holes through the pins and about 1 Y. in. into the ends. Split out small sticks and whittle one end to make a 1Y.-in. peg to fit the hole. Drive in the peg, saw it off, and whittle another. After assembling the lid, you may have to plane around the lid and base to level the pieces. Don't take off too much, or you'll spoil the fit between the lid and sides. Finally, clean up the exterior with a block plane to make everything smooth and flowing. I attached the handmade hinges, which add to the French flavor of the chest, with nails, clenched over on the inside. For the lock, you could probably substitute a regular keyhole lock, then cover it with a curved plate or just hammer a commercial hasp to match the curve of the chest. The outside of the chest is coated with linseed oil, but the inside is unfinished-even 17th-century travelers didn't want oil bleeding onto their clothes. D Peter Schuerch designs furniture and works for Warren Platner Associates, an architectural firm in New Haven, Conn. January/February 1986 69 on Boxes, Carcases, and Draw